


You're in a Band?

by dwaekki



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 00 line in a band!, M/M, Minho and Jeongin are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28255125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwaekki/pseuds/dwaekki
Summary: The thing is: no matter how much Han Jisung fucked up, Kim Seungmin would always have his back. Sometimes, Lee Felix and Hwang Hyunjin were there, too.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Seo Changbin, Han Jisung | Han & Hwang Hyunjin, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	You're in a Band?

Once upon a time, Jisung _was_ a guitarist.

There was a reason Jisung had hated Hwang Hyunjin for so long, and, _no_ , it was not pure jealousy over how _damn_ pretty Hyunjin was. It was the fact that, before Hyunjin, when Blurred Opinion was just Felix, Jisung, and Seungmin, Jisung played guitar. Then, Seungmin met Hyunjin, fell absolutely in love with his looks and his guitar skills, and pulled him into the band _without even asking anyone_. Felix would never mind, because Felix was Felix, but Jisung would have said no immediately.

“That’s why I didn’t ask you.” Seungmin said. Jisung kicked him in the shin, and Seungmin had a bruise for a week. (“It was worth it,” Seungmin boasted, laying back against Hyunjin’s chest, smug, and absolutely pissing Jisung off. Jisung kicked him again, but he had a bass in his lap, with his tablet open to YouTube for some basic lessons, and Seungmin, bruises and all, was victorious.)

Fast-forward six months: Jisung trusted Hyunjin a little more. He almost _liked_ Hyunjin, except he still had a bitter taste in the back of his throat when he saw a guitar anywhere near Hyunjin. (When Hyunjin showed up to practice one day with a guitar tattoo on his arm, Jisung physically punched him purely on instinct. Luckily, Jisung had been skipping arm day for quite a few weeks, and his punch landed somewhere in the middle of Hyunjin’s chest, so he played it off like he was messing around and jealous that Hyunjin had gotten a tattoo when he had been wanting one for so long. Seungmin and Felix saw right through him, and laughed about his stupid fit of jealous rage, while Hyunjin just rubbed his chest and fell for Jisung’s bullshit.)

Jisung had a feeling Seungmin wanted Hyunjin in the band because he had a big, fat crush on him, and Jisung ranted to Felix endlessly about how he had a big, fat crush on Minho and never tried to add _him_ to the group.

“And who is Minho?” Felix asked.

Seungmin walked into the dorm just as Jisung said, “My almost-ex.”

“Almost-ex?” Seungmin asked as he made quick work of the _sit on the floor / take the pipe from Felix / take a hit_ process. “What the _hell_ is an ‘almost-ex’?”

Seungmin exhaled the smoke in his lungs after asking the question. Jisung almost didn’t understand him, but he and Seungmin had spent too many weekends together getting high out of their minds for Jisung to _not_ understand his weed-drowned words at this point.

“It’s someone you know you should’ve dated, but you also know you wouldn’t have worked out, but you still regret not getting with them at least once.” Jisung said. He took the pipe from Seungmin: “Lee Minho is my almost-ex.”

“Lee Minho is Hyunjin’s best friend.” Seungmin said. Jisung choked _hard_ after inhaling the wrong way with his mouth around the pipe. Felix had to lean forward on his knees and slap Jisung’s back a few times out of concern. Seungmin just sat there, pipe now in his hand, and laughed at him.

“I’m kicking Hyunjin out of the band.” Jisung said, tilting his head back. “I can’t trust him.”

“Because he’s friends with someone you want to fuck?” Seungmin asked. Jisung started to protest, but Felix actually cut him off: “You know you’re only interested in Minho because you two would have good sex.”

“Fuck both of you.” Jisung said. He lay back, didn’t care how splaying himself against the cold, hard ground would affect his back. Seungmin told him, “You would,” and Jisung kicked his leg out, hit Felix instead, and was suddenly victim to violent tickles as Seungmin sat back, laughed, and smoked through Jisung’s torture.

Jisung and Felix had just broken apart when someone knocked on the door. Jisung shot to his feet, hope in his heart that _maybe_ , just maybe, Minho had finally come to visit— always said he would— but it all sunk and crashed when he opened the door to Hyunjin’s stupid face.

“Fuck.” Jisung said, stepping aside. Hyunjin laughed, “I missed you too.”

“Jinnie!” Seungmin said. He leaned back, arms extended. Hyunjin sat down and naturally became Seungmin’s backrest, leaning back against his arms and crossing his legs behind Seungmin’s back. Immediately, Seungmin looked extremely content, and Jisung was _so_ jealous that his tongue wasn’t halfway down Minho’s throat. Seriously, where was his homoerotic human contact? He deserved some!

“Aw, Sungie,” Felix cooed, seeing the look on Jisung’s face. “My Sungie, come here, I’ll hold you, baby.”

Jisung didn’t even defend himself against the teasing; he just closed the door and flopped into Felix’s lap. Felix stroked his hair, hummed a song at him. Jisung watched Seungmin and Hyunjin pass the pipe between each other for about a minute before he held his hand out for it, taking a hit right after Hyunjin, and passing it back to Felix.

“Empty.” Felix muttered, tossing it to Hyunjin to refill.

“We should talk.” Hyunjin said, but he was so focused on refilling the pipe that he didn’t look at anyone, and didn’t actually finish his statement for another few beats. “The song. We should talk about the new song.”

“I think we should write about almost-exes.” Jisung voted. He pulled out his phone, didn’t mind as Felix shifted and slipped his arms under Jisung’s, holding his waist. Jisung started to scroll through his notes: “I have a couple of tidbits of lyrics about it. I wrote a whole verse for me. Rap.”

“You’re obsessed.” Felix laughed, but it sparked his interest: “What else do you have?”

Jisung sang the few vocal parts he had, and he rapped his entire verse. Hyunjin loved it. Seungmin figured the vocal parts needed to be cleaned up — obviously, considering they weren’t done yet. Felix thought it was a little bit cheesy, but he didn’t mind a little bit of cheesy.

“You only think it’s cheesy because you know who it’s about.” Jisung argued, slapping Felix’s thigh. Felix pinched him, and Jisung jolted. He elbowed Felix’s ribs, though it was a soft hit. Seungmin snorted, watching the two of them: “You’re both stuck in elementary.”

“Never grew up, and I was stuck with this loser during my childhood.” Jisung said. He stood just to stretch his legs, and asked, “Want to go to the studio?”

“At midnight?”

“Chan gave me a key.” Jisung said. Hyunjin rolled his eyes: “Not the point I was trying to make, but okay.”

“Get used to 3 a.m.’s and always being high as a kite, Hwang.” Jisung said. He turned, and ran directly into the door, nearly fell back on his ass with how hard he’d hit it. Seungmin and Felix laughed, while Hyunjin reached over to slap the back of Jisung’s thigh, “Be careful, Han. How you function on a daily basis, I’ll never know.”

“My brain’s been fried for years.” Jisung muttered. He opened the door carefully and stood beside it, ushering everyone: “Let’s go.”

“Need shoes.” Felix muttered, while Seungmin silently went for a jacket. Hyunjin hung by the door with Jisung, who looked up at him for a second, scanned him down, and then up, and huffed. Hyunjin laughed, “What?” but Jisung didn’t answer him. (If he was being honest, he was _really_ stuck over Minho and how _bad_ he wanted to go visit him — Han Jisung was horny as _hell_ , and Hyunjin, unfortunately, was not bad-looking, and that pissed Jisung off even more.)

Jisung kept his mind off of Hyunjin, for the most part, as the four of them poked around the studio and played with what Jisung had for the new song’s base. They made a hell of a lot of progress, and they only worked up until 2 a.m.; Seungmin started complaining about needing a little bit of sleep before his pop quiz at 8 a.m., and Felix kept getting text messages from some girl he refused to talk about. Felix was the first to take off; Seungmin scoffed, “Guess he’s getting laid.”

“You sound jealous.” Jisung teased. Seungmin kicked him, and then he took off, as well, which left Jisung and Hyunjin alone. Jisung eyed Hyunjin, “You’re not following Seungmin out?” and Hyunjin shrugged, “He needs sleep. Besides, he’s been worried about the two of us lately. He wants us to be closer — figured hanging out just the two of us might help with that.”

“I don’t think that’s going to help at all. You annoy the shit out of me, and I don’t even want you in this group.” Jisung scowled, turning his back to Hyunjin. He started clicking away at the computer, adjusting the melody for their new song. He thought: _I should have Chan review this_ , and then Hyunjin was behind him, pressing his chest to Jisung’s back, chin against shoulder. Jisung cringed away, “What the _fuck_ —?” but Hyunjin spoke over him, “I see how you look at me, Han. If you admit you want me, and we fool around, who knows? We could get along?”

Jisung laughed, trying to hide the nerves behind it — had he really been _that_ obvious? “You’re high out of your fucking mind, Hwang.”

“High on you, baby.” Hyunjin winked. He spun the chair around— quick, and smooth, and Jisung absolutely hated how attractive that was. He gulped and pressed back against the chair as Hyunjin leaned into him, smirking, “What do you say we go back to your dorm and have fun?”

Jisung wanted to go back to working on the song and pining over Minho so he could _stop_ being tempted by how frustratingly hot Hwang Hyunjin was. Jisung made up a shitty excuse, starting with, “Felix…” but he was cut off quickly: “—is about to get some from a hot girl and probably won’t stumble back home until morning.”

Jisung didn’t want to; he _did not_ want to; but then Hyunjin leaned just a little closer and Jisung _definitely wanted to_. Jisung grabbed Hyunjin by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward. They kissed _rough_ , and hot, and Hyunjin barely kept himself balanced enough to not topple over onto Jisung, but he managed. Jisung whimpered when Hyunjin nibbled his bottom lip. Hyunjin laughed: “You whine like a virgin.”

“Fuck you.” Jisung growled. He shoved Hyunjin away and quickly saved his work. He gathered up his bag and looked at Hyunjin, who was watching him, smiling: “Well, Hwang? Are we going to do this or what?”

Jisung and Hyunjin were up until six in the morning; safe to say, they both missed their morning lectures.

“Where were you this morning?”

“Where were _you_ this morning?”

“Touché.” Felix said, sitting back against the bench; the two of them were outside of the music building, both waiting for an upcoming class to start. “I was, uh, on a date… all night. Don’t worry about it. I made it to class, at least — what happened to you? Did you get _that_ sucked into your ‘almost-ex’ feelings?”

“ _No_.” Jisung said. He considered telling the truth, but he also considered lying. He was just about to tell a lie when Seungmin called his name, coming up on Jisung and Felix from behind the bench. His hands were clenched into fists, and he was coming close _fast_. Jisung was already prepared to book it, but Seungmin commanded, “Stand up,” and Felix and Jisung both did, watching as Seungmin walked around the bench and stood in front of them.

“You fucked Hyunjin?” Seungmin asked Jisung, sounding fierce but _way_ too calm. Jisung lifted his hands, surrendering, but still trying to justify his actions _immediately_ , “Listen. In my defense, I was high as hell, _he_ was high as hell, and, as a result of our wildly stupid night, we’re sort of friends now. Sort of. If we fucked again, who knows?”

“I’m going to punch you.” Seungmin said, very matter-of-fact. Felix stepped in front of Jisung, finally overcoming the shock that had him frozen by Jisung’s side, always ready to come to his best friend’s defense — “ _No_. No, you’re not.”

“Felix, I am going to punch Han Jisung.”

“Please do not punch Han Jisung.” Felix begged. He placed his hands on Seungmin’s arms and tried to place his face in front of Seungmin’s. “Min? Min, look at me. We both know that there was no romance involved. They were both just horny. And they were super high last night, just like you and me! Literally, they’re both _disgustingly_ horny when they’re high. It was bound to happen.”

“I am going to punch _you_.”

“Felix,” Jisung mumbled, tugging on Felix’s arm, “I think we should bail.”

So, Felix and Jisung took off running, and Seungmin shouted after them. He chased them around campus for a handful of minutes. Jisung asked, “Where the _hell_ is Hyunjin when you need him?” and Felix said, “Probably Chemistry!”

“ _Fuck_ STEM majors!”

Jisung and Felix ducked into a dorm building and flew up the hallways. They lost Seungmin after rounding a corner and diving into an elevator, scaring the hell out of a poor freshman; the kid was leaning against a crutch and holding a hand over his heart after Felix and Jisung had stampeded into the little space.

“I’m going to hurt Hyunjin.” Jisung said, gasping for air. Felix punched him in the shoulder, “I’m going to hurt _you_. How could you fuck Hyunjin — you _know_ how Seungmin feels about him! Now _I’m_ in hot water with Seungmin for trying to be on your side!”

“ _You’re_ in hot water with Seungmin? He could _kill me_ , Felix!” Jisung groaned, slamming an open palm against the elevator wall. “I’m going to end Hyunjin’s life. I’m never smoking around him again. _Fuck_ , Seungmin’s going to rip my—”

“Stop. Stop talking.” Felix said, finally thinking about the poor freshman in the elevator. Luckily, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor right then, and the kid hobbled out as quick as he could. Felix held the door open until he was gone, and then he punched the button for the tenth floor — just because — and stepped back, placing himself next to Jisung again.

“Wait for me up here, okay? I’ll go talk to Seungmin.” Jisung muttered, finally catching his breath. “If he punches me, so be it, I’ll just pay it forward. To Hyunjin!”

Felix placed his hand on Jisung’s shoulder, “Good luck.”

Felix stepped out of the elevator on the tenth floor, and he saluted Jisung as the doors closed. Jisung rolled his eyes, but he pushed the button for the first floor and prayed that Seungmin wouldn’t break his nose.

Seungmin was waiting right in front of the elevator when it opened on the first floor. His arms were crossed and he was _pissed_ , jaw tight, eyes burning. He immediately walked into the small space, grabbed the front of Jisung’s shirt, reared back, and punched him, fist against his left cheek. His grip on Jisung’s shirt was the only thing that stopped Jisung from falling directly to the ground.

“You’re a _piece of shit_.” Seungmin said as the elevator slid shut. Jisung scrambled away from Seungmin, pressed the button for the tenth floor and hoped the elevator moved fast. He decided he wasn’t as brave as he pretended to be about a minute and a half ago, and he definitely wanted to use Felix as a human shield.

“I swear, Hyunjin means nothing to me.” Jisung said, holding up his hands, surrendering again, “And I mean nothing to him! We’re fuck buddies if nothing else, and I guarantee we’ll never even look at each other again if you ask him out! Just _ask him out_ , Seungmin, be brave!”

“Brave? Brave like _you_ , maybe? Should I go fuck someone I don’t like just for fun? Maybe I should go to Minho!” Seungmin suggested. Jisung crowded his space, “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Seungmin shoved him. “Jealous, huh? Imagine how it would feel if I fucked Minho — that’s how I feel _right now_ , Han Jisung!”

“Okay! Okay, I’m sorry, Seungmin, I’m sorry.” Jisung said. He glanced up, seeing the elevator pass the seventh floor, and breathed, “Look. You’re my best friend, okay? I don’t want my weed-driven mistake to fuck us up, so… if you’re still really mad… you can punch me again.”

Jisung squeezed his eyes shut. He heard Seungmin move forward, and he felt Seungmin’s hand on his chest again, gripping him tightly. Jisung’s shoulders bunched up to his ears, and he twisted his face with anxiety. He said, “Do it. Just do it,” and he waited, but the punch never came. The elevator dinged, and Seungmin dragged him, and shoved him, and Jisung stumbled back, and his body hit someone else’s, and he heard Felix shriek as the two of them toppled over together, rolling and fumbling against each other and the ground.

“Fuck.” Jisung muttered, untangling himself from Felix. Seungmin stood over the two of them, jaw still tight, arms now crossed, but he didn’t have that same flare of anger in his eyes anymore. He held out his hand, and Jisung took it hesitantly, wondering if Seungmin was going to fling him back into the elevator next, but he didn’t. He just helped Jisung to his feet— Felix, too— and stepped away from them both.

“I hate you.” Seungmin said to Jisung. “But you’re my best friend, too. If you _ever_ fuck Hyunjin again, I’m kicking you in the balls until they burst.”

“I’ll take that to heart.” Jisung said. He held out his arms, but Felix grabbed his elbows and forced them down again, “Don’t even try that right now.”

“Yeah. Don’t.” Seungmin said. He started to walk away, and Jisung wanted to follow, but Felix kept him in one spot, “Seriously. Let him cool off. He’ll come around.”

“I’m going to have a _nasty_ bruise tomorrow.” Jisung said, looking at Felix. Felix hissed as soon as he saw Jisung’s face — “Hell yeah you are. Might only take an hour, honestly.”

“Can we go get some ice?” Jisung asked, and Felix nodded. They decided to take the stairs, given that the elevator was already down on the first floor and they didn’t feel like standing there to wait for it. Jisung pulled his hood over his head, hiding as much of his face as possible. It didn’t stop people from staring. (Nothing would ever stop prying eyes from nosing their way into whatever seemingly interesting thing was happening around them.)

“Maybe we should go on a road trip!”

It was Felix who said it. Of course Felix would suggest something like that. He was the only one not subjected to someone else’s glare — save Seungmin, but that was only because Hyunjin was confused, turning to Felix in every once in a while, wondering silently why Jisung was looking at him like that, why Seungmin was looking at _Jisung_ like that. It had already been five minutes of awkward sitting, staring, and silence. No work done. No words spoken. Just: sitting… staring… silence.

“That sounds like fun!” Hyunjin said immediately, standing up and gravitating to Felix. Jisung’s gaze followed; then, it landed on Felix, and he snapped out of it. “A road trip? Are you crazy?”

“That sounds fun.” Seungmin said, way too sweet. Jisung immediately pointed at Seungmin and looked to Felix, all of his red flags waving, “Felix. _Felix_. He’s going to murder me in the car.”

“I don’t think Seungmin is capable of murder,” Hyunjin offered. Jisung turned his pointer finger on the newcomer, glaring, “You do not know Seungmin as well as you think you do, _sir_.”

“Seungmin is somewhat capable of murder,” Felix said, patting Hyunjin’s shoulder a couple of times. Then, he looked to Seungmin, “Bot not Han Jisung! Because we don’t murder our best friends! Even if they are dumb and deserve to be throat punched!”

“I thought you were on my side here.” Jisung whined, and Felix glanced at him, “ _I am_.”

“Road trip to where?” Seungmin asked, deciding not to address the degree to which he was capable of murder. Felix let that conversation die, too, excitedly saying, “Across the city! Chan and Changbin are renting a couple of hotel rooms for the weekend and they want us to meet them there!”

“So you want to go on a road trip for… approximately three hours?” Seungmin questioned. Felix pouted, “Okay, fine, it’s not much of a road trip, but it’ll still be fun! What do you say? Leave college behind for a few days and relax?”

“I’ll take it,” Jisung decided, standing up and shouldering past Hyunjin to stand close to Felix, “I’ll take any break I can get from this school. If Seungmin kills me, at least I don’t have to take my finals.”

“That’s the spirit.” Felix said, and Hyunjin tilted his head, “Is it?”

“Yes, Hyunjin, it is.” Jisung said. He turned on his heel and headed for his closet. He pulled out a duffel bag and started to shove some clothes into it. Seungmin watched him, and sighed. As mad as he was at his best friend, he wasn’t going to let him pack his own travel bag. He stood up, and held out his hand as he walked to Jisung, “Give me that.”

Jisung didn’t risk talking, just grinned and handed the bag over to Seungmin, who started to take out and properly fold all the clothes Jisung had already shoved into it. Hyunjin said, “I’ll go get some things from my room, then?” and Felix offered to go with him.

“You want me to die so badly.” Jisung said, glancing at Seungmin, who was working, still, on folding Jisung’s clothes, but looking at the three men grouped near the door. Felix pat Jisung’s shoulder a couple times, “You’ll make it, I promise.”

Jisung grumbled something, but Felix and Hyunjin were already leaving, walking down the hall to Hyunjin and Seungmin’s room. Jisung sighed, and leaned against the closed door. “I should lock them out.”

“You should apologize to me again.” Seungmin said, but Jisung was too busy ranting to hear him, “I don’t even get why Felix went with him — his stuff is here. You know. In our shared room. If anything, you and Hyunjin should be going to your room to pack your things, and I should be here, with Felix, with whom my life would not be on the line—”

“I’m not mad at you.” Seungmin cut him off. Jisung had a physical reaction of doubt, his head and shoulders moving back far enough for him to smack the back of his head against the door. He cursed, his hand flying up to the bruised spot. Seungmin snorted, “Idiot.”

“Why have you been looking at me like that all day?” Jisung asked. Seungmin shrugged, “Put you in your place.”

“You’re evil.” Jisung said. He walked across the room, seating himself next to Seungmin. He leaned against his shoulder—slowly, to make sure Seungmin would let him—and apologized: “I am really sorry, though. Hyunjin and I were _fucked_ up.”

“You’ve been smoking weed for long enough that I barely believe that.” Seungmin said. “But it’s fine. Just. Let Hyunjin be mine, okay? I like him a lot, seriously.”

“Felix and I both think he likes you, too. Why else would he join a band of strangers if he wasn’t gone for you?” Jisung asked. Seungmin shrugged, jostling Jisung, “Because he thought you were cute, and his plan was to get into your pants all along?”

“You think a looker like _Hyunjin_ would find _me_ cute?”

Seungmin pushed Jisung off his shoulder just to smack the back of his head, “He literally fucked you!”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry I’m stupid!” Jisung whined, rubbing the area Seungmin had smacked. “That was right where I hit my head.”

“Serves you right.” Seungmin said; then, he scoffed, “I should be careful, though, you don’t need to lose any more brain cells.”

“Love you too.” Jisung muttered. He took his bag from Seungmin and moved it to his bed, pulling open one of the drawers beneath it to pack some socks and underwear. Seungmin watched him, and rearranged his bag when Jisung placed something carelessly into it. He physically smacked Jisung’s hands away when he tried to shove an entire blanket in there: “You need to roll that up so it actually fits in your bag. You’ll break the zipper if you try to force it closed with a hastily-stuffed-in blanket.”

“Why is everything so complicated?” Jisung whined. Hyunjin and Felix returned to the room while Jisung and Seungmin were in the middle of folding and rolling up the blanket together. Jisung was still whining about material items being annoying to move around. Felix placed a bag on Jisung’s bed and told Seungmin, “Hyunjin and I brought some of your things that we think you’d like.”

“Is my facial cleanser in there?”

“Yep! Hyunjin remembered it.”

“What about my _travel_ toothbrush? The yellow one?”

“Hyunjin grabbed that too!”

“My grey hoodie?”

“Hyunjin got it!”

“And you think he’s not into you.” Jisung muttered in Seungmin’s ear, earning him an elbow to the stomach.

“What did you say to him?” Hyunjin chuckled softly, rubbing Jisung’s back as he hunched over. Jisung just shook his head, brushing Hyunjin off, “Most things I say to Seungmin invoke that reaction.”

“Once I pack my bag we should be all good to go!” Felix said, happily skipping to his closet to grab a duffel bag and start quickly folding some clothes to put in there. Hyunjin joined him, picking up random things from Felix’s desk and asking about them. Seungmin had a look on his face that concerned Jisung; he suggested, “Wanna go back to your room and grab anything they missed?”

“They didn’t miss anything.” Seungmin said. Jisung narrowed his eyes, and Seungmin understood. “Oh. Yeah. Let’s go.”

Jisung and Seungmin grabbed their bags and hid out in Seungmin and Hyunjin’s room. Seungmin tossed his bag on the ground and flopped onto his bed. “He is _so_ into Felix.”

“You are _so_ stupid.” Jisung said. Seungmin kicked his leg out and managed to catch Jisung’s thigh with the side of his foot. Jisung almost crumpled right to the ground, which had Seungmin snorting, “You need to work out; taking you down is too easy.”

“Fuck you.” Jisung said, and Seungmin shook his head, “I’d never let you.”

“Hyunjin likes you.” Jisung said. Seungmin hummed, “Then why did he get with you? Why is he following Felix around like a puppy? Why does he talk about some Yang Jeongin all the time?”

“He’s either a huge whore, or he likes you and considers the rest of us his friends. Which is more likely?” Jisung asked. Seungmin was quiet for a moment, but he shook his head, denying Jisung against, “You don’t just sleep with your friends.”

“When you’re high, bored, and stressed out, you sure do! I’ve tried to get into _Lix’s_ pants before, Seungmin, we are not at our highest points right now.” Jisung said. Seungmin was silent for a couple moments, and then, with one of the most pathetic tones Jisung had ever heard in his voice, asked, “Should I even want to date him right now, then? Is college really a good time to fall in love?”

“Love.” Jisung echoed. He sat down next to Seungmin, who was still face-down on the bed, and shrugged, “If you want to, you can. Working it out with Hyunjin should be easy. He’s basically a puppy, like you said. He adores you.”

“Maybe.” Seungmin said. He rolled onto his side, and looked at Jisung, “Maybe I’ll tell him after our road trip. Maybe I’ll spend time with him over the next couple days and see what I feel after that.”

“There you go.” Jisung said, patting Seungmin’s thigh. He didn’t know what else to say, but Seungmin seemed to have it all figured out. He stood, and grabbed his bag, “Shall we hit the road, then?”

Seungmin grinned, and followed Jisung, “Let’s hit it.”

“I have to piss _so fucking bad_.”

“I told you to go to the bathroom before we got on the road.” Seungmin scolded Jisung. Felix, who was driving, snorted, and informed them, “We need gas anyway. Can you hold until we find a gas station?”

“There better be one within the next two miles or I _will_ piss out of this window.” Jisung threatened. Felix sped up a little bit. Luckily, there was a gas station less than two minutes away. Jisung scrambled out of the car, promising to be back in less than two minutes.

Jisung was pretty quick, finding the bathroom immediately and emptying his bladder as quickly as he could get his zipper undone. He stepped away from the urinal and had just made it to the sink when something snagged the hood of his jacket and tugged, _hard_. Jisung’s back hit the wall, his head bouncing against the surface, and he was met with the face of some sleazy-looking man. Then, a knife pressed against his throat, and Jisung’s stomach dropped to his feet.

“Give me your wallet _now_.”

 _Holy shit_ , Jisung thought, _I’m going to fucking die_. “I don’t have my wallet—”

“ _Bullshit_ ,” the man said, his hot breath fanning over Jisung’s face. He wanted to gag. He wanted to do a lot of things — push the guy off, start screaming, do _something_ but stand there and panic, but in a fight, flight, or freeze situation, Jisung was a statue.

“Give me your wallet now or these walls are going to be _red_.”

All of a sudden, the door burst open, and Seungmin’s voice was shouting, “Han Jisung, if you don’t hurry the hell up—”

Everything happened so fast after that. The man whipped his head toward the door, and Seungmin’s eyes went wide. It only took him a second to process the situation, and then he lunged at the man that had a grip on Jisung’s jacket. They both tumbled to the ground, knife skidding out of the man’s hand. It landed right next to Jisung’s feet. Seungmin scrambled up, and Jisung kicked the knife out of the way. Thank God for their instincts, Jisung thought, because the man went for the knife before he went for Seungmin or Jisung, and the two were able to book it — thanks to Seungmin, who started running first and grabbed Jisung on his way out.

Hyunjin and Felix were both in the car when Seungmin and Jisung bolted out of the gas station — again, thank the Lord. The two of them dove into the back seat, and Seungmin told Felix, “Get the hell out of here.” Felix didn’t ask any questions, peeling out of the gas station, taking off down the mostly-empty road. Hyunjin looked highly alarmed, asking, “What happened? Did you steal something? Are you okay?”

Seungmin looked at Jisung. Jisung looked at Seungmin. He blinked a couple of times, didn’t know what to say, could only think about one thing, “I didn’t get a chance to wash my hands.”

“Oh my God.” Seungmin said, bursting into laughter. He covered his face with his hands, laughing hysterically into them. “You’re worried about not washing your hands. You’re worried about _not washing your hands_.”

“Seungmin, Jisung, what happened?” Felix asked. Seungmin shook his head, and he punched Jisung in the chest, “You fucking _moron_ , oh my _God_ , you could have _died_ in there.”

“What?” Hyunjin and Felix shouted at the same time. Jisung gulped, “Yeah, I could have. Um. Thank you, Seungmin. For checking on me.”

“Ha.” Seungmin laughed hallowly, shaking his head. “Fuck. I walked into the bathroom to hurry Jisung’s ass along and some _dickhole_ has a knife to his throat. What did he want? Fuck, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Jisung said, but he let Seungmin look at his neck anyway. Seungmin started mumbling to himself, pulling a band-aid out of the front seat’s back pocket and pressing it over what must have been a small cut on Jisung’s neck. In the meantime, Jisung explained, “He wanted my wallet, but I left it in here, obviously, so I didn’t have anything for him. He didn’t believe me. He said he was going to kill me.”

“Fuck.” Seungmin said. His hands held Jisung’s biceps, grip too tight. Jisung tried to pat his thigh, “I’m fine. You saved me. That was really badass, you know.”

“Did you get hurt? Either of you?” Hyunjin asked. Jisung shook his head, and grinned, “Seungmin tackled the guy, knocked the knife out of his hand because he shoved him so hard. It was hot.”

“You are so fucking stupid.” Seungmin muttered. He hugged Jisung; his shoulders were shaking, but he was laughing, and it didn’t sound hysterical this time. “You’re fine?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to you.” Jisung said.

“Seungmin has _balls_.” Felix said, trying to lift the mood up a little more. It worked. Seungmin laughed louder, and Jisung was able to join in, “That was _so_ badass. It didn’t even take a second for him to tackle the guy.”

“That’s really brave.” Hyunjin commented, and then he whistled, “Damn. Don’t fuck with Seungmin.”

Seungmin just laughed as Jisung and Felix parroted Hyunjin’s sentiment. The four of them didn’t know what to talk about after that, mostly just singing along to radio songs as Seungmin clung to Jisung and Felix and Hyunjin sent the two of them worried glances every once in a while. Luckily, Changbin called Felix, and his voice filled the car as the call connected to the stereo.

“Changbin! We’re on our way to you!” Felix sing-songed, and Changbin matched his energy right away, “We’re ordering dinner for you!”

“What are we getting?” Felix asked, to which Changbin teased, “You’ll just have to see, Lixie.”

“Buy something for dessert!” Jisung called. Changbin was quiet for a minute; then, he asked, “Oh, am I on speaker? Hi Jisung!”

“You’re connected to my car speaker, Bin.” Felix laughed.

“Oh! So Seungmin and Hyunjin can hear? Hi! I’ll meet you soon!” Changbin said. “Oh, Chan is right here. Chan, say hi to the kids.”

“Hi kids!” Chan seemed to be speaking from a distance. All four of them said hello back at the same time, and Chan and Changbin laughed. “They really sound like kids, that’s cute.”

“We’re not kids!” Jisung called. Chan and Changbin both laughed, “Han, you’re a baby.”

“Babies don’t smoke weed!”

“ _Han_.”

“Why did you call, Bin?” Felix asked, pivoting the conversation. Changbin hummed, seemingly just remembering, “Just wanted to see how close you were so we knew when to place the order.”

“We just left about twenty minutes ago. We’ll be there by 8?” Felix estimated, blocking the sun from his car’s clock to check the time. “Ah. Maybe 8:30.”

“Okay. Travel safe, call when you’re here. We’re in rooms 511, 512, and 513. We’ll use 511 until we have to sleep.”

“Thank you!” Felix said. Changbin made kissy noises into the phone and hung up right after, which sent Felix into a giggle fit. His cheeks were a bit pink, and he claimed, “Changbin is such a nerd.”

“And _you_ have _such_ a crush!” Jisung accused. Felix glared at him through the rearview mirror, “I absolutely do not.”

“You have the fattest crush on Seo Changbin.” Jisung said. Felix didn’t reply, and cranked up the radio instead. Jisung shouted over the music, which just made Felix turn it up louder. Hyunjin was covering his ears, wailing at how loud it was in the car, and Seungmin was swatting at both Jisung’s and Felix’s heads, claiming, “We’re going to get pulled over!”

The rest of the road trip was just as chaotic — blaring music, loud conversations, hotboxing _on the road_ (“Han Jisung, if you don’t stop smoking in this fucking car, I’m going to kick you out of it while Felix is still going.”), but, amazingly, they did not get pulled over. Felix called Changbin and pulled into the hotel without incident. Chan greeted them outside, intent on helping them with their suitcases.

He got close, and, before even saying hello, he pointed out Jisung, “You’re high as a kite right now, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely not.” Jisung said. Chan raised an eyebrow, leaned in, and sniffed once. “You are off your rocker.”

Jisung just stuck his tongue out, and opened the trunk. Chan shook his head, “We’ll be lucky if we get up to the room without being questioned.”

“The universe owes me one.” Jisung said. Chan raised an eyebrow. Jisung was no longer looking at him, but Felix answered for him — just a small shake of his head that urged Chan not to question it. Chan didn’t, and grabbed two of their bags instead, explaining that Changbin had food and alcohol waiting in the room for them. That made Jisung move a little faster, and Chan laughed, “You are such a little demon.”

The five of them made it up to the room, no questions asked, but plenty of stares received. Jisung immediately dove for Changbin, hugging him tight and blabbing on about how he missed Changbin _so much_ , playing it up just to amuse the older man. (Changbin liked to be thought about. Jisung liked to tease him for it.)

“I forget how loud you are until you’re around again.” Changbin said. He waved at Seungmin and Hyunjin as Jisung said, “But you love me;” and he ignored Jisung in favor of introducing himself. “I’m Changbin.”

“Seungmin.”

“Hyunjin.”

“Any friend of Felix’s is a friend of ours!” Chan announced, cheesily. Jisung frowned at him, “What about _my_ friends?”

“Jisung, one of your friends stole my favorite watch _right in front of me_ and then just walked out of my apartment.” Changbin said. Jisung shrugged, “I stopped talking to her after that.”

“Any friend of _Felix_ is a friend of ours.” Chan reiterated. “Come eat, Han, and everyone. Have any of you eaten today?”

For the most part, the group had not eaten that day — save Hyunjin, who had time for lunch because he wasn’t being chased around campus by Seungmin and, following that, trying to make up for classes missed in the morning. Chan seemed content seeing all four of them dig into the food that Chan and Changbin bought, recalling, out loud, his crazy college years.

“How is that going, by the way?” Changbin asked, “Classes okay?”

“ _No_. My finals are all happening at the same time, and my professors are piling on tons of work.” Hyunjin whined. Felix hummed in agreement, “Between school work, the band, and my attempt at having a social life, the hours of sleep I get per night are falling into the negatives.”

“You’re taking a few days off, right? With us?” Chan asked, patting the back of Felix’s head. Felix nodded, content, “Thank you for inviting us.”

“What about you two?” Changbin asked, looking at Seungmin and Jisung. Seungmin’s answer was simple: “He’s ruining my life,” pointing the blame to Jisung. “Especially today.”

“I make your life interesting and you know it.” Jisung said, smirking, “Because of me, you can officially say you saved someone’s life after almost ending it.”

“That sounds like a story.” Changbin said, a clear indication that he wanted to hear said story. Jisung glanced at Hyunjin quickly, figuring out a way to tell the story without involving him: “Well. I pissed Seungmin off this morning, and he chased me around campus. Gave me this black eye. Then we stopped at a gas station, and some guy pulled a knife on me. He wanted me wallet. But Seungmin came in and tackled him. It was pretty hot.”

“Is that why you’ve got a band-aid on your neck?” Changbin asked casually, while Chan fretted, “Dude, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. That guy was no match for Seungmin.” Jisung said, patting Seungmin’s back. Seungmin shook his head, “And he was worried because he didn’t get to wash his hands.”

“Wait a minute, did you ever wash your hands after that?” Chan asked. Jisung pursed his lips, “...No.”

“Go wash your hands!” at least three of them shouted at the same time, and Jisung flinched, surrendering. He retreated to the bathroom to finally wash his hands. While he was gone, Hyunjin asked, “Seriously, are you two okay?”

“I mean, I am. I think Jisung is. Although, that might be why he decided to get high out of his mind. I can’t imagine that was an experience he’ll just forget about.”

“Good thing he has you to save him.” Hyunjin said. Seungmin nodded. Then, Jisung was back, “I’m clean now!” and he pressed his still-wet hands against Felix’s back. Felix flinched, and turned around to slap him, “What the hell!”

“Clean hands! Clean hands!” Jisung bragged, tucking his hands under Hyunjin’s shirt this time. Hyunjin flailed, and fell backwards off the bed, crashing into Jisung’s legs and taking him down as well. The two landed in a messy pile of limbs and groans; the rest laughed at their predicament.

“You are so dramatic.” Jisung groaned. Hyunjin whined right back, “That was _cold_. What kind of psychopath washes his hands with _cold_ water?”

“I was in a hurry!”

“For _what_?”

“Enough,” Chan laughed. He had stood, and he reached for Hyunjin to pull him to his feet — Jisung next. “Finish eating, you heathens. We have movies to watch after dinner.”

The rest of the night was spent discussing college tips with the two graduated men, watching stupid horror movies, and deciding who would room with who. After Chan and Changbin admitted to having a thing going on as of late, Jisung staked claim to Felix so that Hyunjin and Seungmin would be forced to room together. While Seungmin glared at Jisung, Hyunjin celebrated, “This will be fun! We can go watch another scary movie without Felix screaming in our ears!”

“Hyunjin, you scream just as much.”

“Touché.” Hyunjin said. He grabbed for Seungmin anyway, jiggling the key Changbin had handed him a moment ago. “Off to 513 we go!”

Just like that, Seungmin and Hyunjin had grabbed their bags and ran off to their room. Jisung rolled onto Felix and asked, “Can we have this room?” to which Felix whined, “You want the room that still smells like pork?”

“I just don’t want to move.”

“Have at it.” Chan said. Felix whined again, but Changbin and Chan left the room too fast for further protest. Felix leaned against the pillows, softly patting Jisung’s head, “You curse me.”

“I curse everyone, you’re not special.” Jisung muttered.

“Ouch.” Felix said. Jisung didn’t say anything. He was sleepy, Felix could tell, but that never stopped Jisung from being involved in a conversation. Felix was worried. “Are you okay, Jisung?”

“I kind of feel like I deserved that, you know. Being attacked like that in the bathroom.” Jisung said. Felix’s heart flipped in a way it never had before; “What? Jisung, why would you think that?”

“I’ve been fucking up a lot lately.” Jisung said. “I messed around with Hyunjin. I’m dictating our song-writing processes because I’m obsessed with Minho. I’ve been doing poorly in my classes. My best grade right now is a C, Felix. I’m high all the time. All I want right now is alcohol, even though I’m supposed to be enjoying time with Chan and Bin. Oh my God, Lix, I’m a low-life.”

“Hey, hey.” Felix stopped him. “It’s not too late to make a couple of changes, Sung. You’ve got us to help you. Lean on me, okay? On Seung. On Jin. Chan, and Bin. We’ve got you.”

“Why?” Jisung asked, almost a whimper at that point. “What do I… do for you? I’m not a good friend, Lix, do you all keep me around for the band? Is that where my usefulness ends?”

“Jisung, you’re our friend. We just love you, yeah? You started the band, you’re a good ear for us — it’s okay if you don’t know what to say. It’s okay if you’re hung up on a guy. It’s okay to make mistakes. Just pick yourself up, yeah? And don’t carry all that weight by yourself. You’re a good guy, you know, or you won’t regret any of that.”

“I guess.” Jisung mumbled. Felix noticed the tears running down his cheeks, and he slowly wiped them away, promising, “You didn’t deserve that, by the way. No one does. You’re okay now, yeah? You’re safe.”

“Seungmin saved me.” Jisung said, chuckling. “Seungmin had two chances to kill me today and he didn’t. Solid sign of friendship.”

“Indeed.” Felix said. “Let’s get some rest, yeah? Sleep off all these bad feelings?”

“As long as you keep cuddling with me.” Jisung mumbled, and Felix laughed, “Always.”

“Wake up! Wake up! We have a gig!”

Seungmin woke up extremely disoriented by two extremely hyper men in the form of Han Jisung and Lee Felix. Hyunjin was already up, though he didn’t look any less confused than Seungmin, who promptly shoved Jisung off of his bed to prevent him from bouncing up and down on it anymore. Jisung hit the floor with a thud, and whined, “I’m so abused!”

“You’re so _annoying_ , is what you are.” Seungmin said. Jisung got to his feet. Felix hopped to Seungmin’s bed and said, “Cheer up, we have a gig!”

“What? When? Where? Why? How?” Seungmin asked. From the corner of the room, Changbin snorted, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone genuinely ask all of those questions at the same time.”

“Chan and Bin got us a gig!” Jisung said, getting to his feet excitedly.

“You’re going to go with a black eye?” Hyunjin asked. Jisung nodded, “Make me look more punk rock.”

“That’s not even our genre.” Seungmin muttered, but didn’t let Jisung respond, “We don’t have our equipment. We left it because, you know, we’re supposed to be taking a break.”

“You don’t want to play?” Felix asked, looking wounded. Seungmin shrugged, “I mean, we can, we just… don’t have anything. We don’t even have a new song out right now. Are we going to rehearse an old one?”

“Silly, we have my almost-ex song! We just have to clean it up and rehearse a few times!” Jisung said.

“Chan and Bin have lots of extra equipment!” Felix added. Seungmin looked at them, curious, “You play?”

“Eh, not exactly. We know a few more bands who like to swap out their old equipment for newer pieces we get our hands on. Nothing more thrilling than making an old guitar brand new. Get dressed, we’ll take you for breakfast and show you what we’ve got.” Chan said. He and Changbin ducked out of the room, then.

“Your friends are so interesting.” Hyunjin said, beaming at Felix.

“That’s why I’ve got ‘em.” Felix said. He slid off of Seungmin’s bed, gesturing to Jisung, “Let’s go get ready! Chan and Bin will take us as soon as we’re ready!”

Felix and Jisung left the room. Seungmin still wasn’t accustomed to being alone with Hyunjin — at least, not in the early morning, when his long hair was messy and his voice was particularly deep, asking, like a gentleman, “Do you want to shower first?”

“Um. Sure. My skin routine is kind of long, so, maybe… yeah. I’ll be quick in the shower, though.” Seungmin said. He started to walk toward the bathroom, but Hyunjin caught his hand, “Hey. Wait, can I… is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Seungmin said, trying to sound as casual as possible. It didn’t work. Hyunjin narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure? Ever since you and Jisung fought, neither one of you has talked to me much. Did I do something?”

“No.” Seungmin said. Not very convincing. Hyunjin frowned — worry as opposed to anger. Seungmin promised, “I’m fine. I should shower quickly so we can leave soon.”

Hyunjin and Seungmin’s morning was painfully awkward. Seungmin was trying to avoid looking at Hyunjin as much as possible, both to dodge talking about everything Seungmin didn’t want to tell Hyunjin, and to resist staring at him as he fixed his hair and swapped his shirt three times.

To think, the band was going to be in these hotel rooms through the weekend. Seungmin wanted to evaporate.

“Can we talk tonight at least?” Hyunjin asked as the two of them were leaving. They were right next to the door, and Hyunjin looked stressed. “Please?”

 _At least that will give me time to think about how to approach this_. “Sure, Hyunjin. We’ll talk tonight.”

Tonight came. Then it went. Six o’clock (in the morning) rolled around, and Blurred Opinion was still playing in the small garage in which Chan and Changbin had introduced them to their temporary equipment. The two had been upstairs for the past few hours, but the chances that they had fallen asleep were slim, given how loud the band was playing. They had the song — still untitled — practically put together, now. Just a few more bumps to smooth out, which their tired fingers and tired minds struggled to do.

“One more time?” Jisung asked. Felix tapped out a few random beats on the drum set, still in awe at it. “I could play these for the rest of my life — let’s go again!”

“Chan and Bin seriously work some wonders.” Hyunjin said, drumming his fingers against his shiny red guitar. He had barely had to tune it, and it was perfect; it was the same case with Jisung’s bass.

“Count us down.” Seungmin announced, glancing back at Felix. It was something Felix _loved_ to do, and he enthusiastically announced: “3, 2, 1,” as he tapped his drum sticks together.

Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin could all agree that _this_ is what vacation felt like.

Blurred Opinion came together because Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin loved music so much; it was their escape from family, from assignments, from _life_. Singing, rapping, playing their instruments — “I imagine this is what it feels like ascending into Heaven,” Jisung said, and he was right. Skipping sleep, skipping meals, skipping class — none of it mattered when the four of them landed a gig and got to do what they loved in front of people who might, in turn, love what they do.

Especially like this: playing a song they all had a hand in creating. They had built it from scratch, and it all came together through their last play through of it, all those nooks and crannies filled in and smoothed out. It flowed like tears down Han Jisung’s cheeks, the music mopping up last night’s emotion and filtering it into something healthy he could use to cope. It was different from covering songs other people had created. Those were unfamiliar emotions — relatable, sure, but not exact. This idea of an almost-ex was something all four of them could relate to, as Jisung pined for Minho, as Seungmin pined for Hyunjin, as Hyunjin pined for Seungmin, as Felix pined for _anyone_.

“It’s so good.” Jisung beamed as the song concluded. “They’ll love this one.”

As Hyunjin ducked under his guitar’s strap, and leaned it up against the wall, Chan and Changbin popped their heads into the room. “Breakfast?”

“I prefer sleep.” Seungmin said. Jisung leaned his bass against the wall, “You’re no fun. We should all just drink copious amounts of coffee and feed off of our adrenaline for energy.”

“I will collapse on stage if I attempt to stay awake for another 20 hours.” Seungmin said. Jisung rolled his eyes, “Fine. You and Hyunjin go be boring; Felix will get coffee with me, won’t you, Lix?”

“I will!” Felix said, looping his arm around Jisung’s. The two left before Seungmin could ask why Jisung had pinned Hyunjin to him. He doubted if Hyunjin would have gone with them, anyhow; as soon as the two were back in the hotel room, Hyunjin asked, “Can we talk now?”

“I came back here to sleep, actually.” Seungmin said. Hyunjin huffed, “Come on, it doesn’t have to be for long. I just want to know what happened. I mean, I did something, but I don’t know… what.”

Seungmin sucked in a breath, and let it spill, his mind too tired to stop him, “You slept with Jisung.”

Hyunjin frowned. “I mean… I did. Is that wrong? Do you have a no-hookups-within-the-band rule? I didn’t know--”

“Hyunjin.” Seungmin laughed. He considered confessing, or just rolling into bed and leaving this behind. He couldn’t imagine where Hyunjin’s head would be, though, if Seungmin just let this simmer, and they had to perform in around 17 hours. At least if he said something now, they could resolve it within that time, rather than sleeping for the next 5 and cutting their let’s-talk-this-out time to 12.

“I really like you, alright?” Seungmin confessed. “Jisung knew that, and he let whatever happened between you two happen anyway. I was pissed off. That’s not something you do to your friends, you know? So, yeah. I chased him down, punched the shit out of him, but we’re fine now. Everything’s fine. He’s stupid, but he’s my best friend.”

“You like me?” Hyunjin asked. Seungmin nodded, pulling his lips together in a tight line. His heart raced, anxiety shaking his fingers. Hyunjin’s expression began to change as the news caught up to him. It was painfully slow, and Seungmin couldn’t read his reaction until his smile had finally formed.

“Oh, Seungmin. I’ve liked you since we first talked.” Hyunjin confessed. Seungmin’s jaw dropped open. He wasn’t standing close enough to slap Hyunjin’s chest, so he took a step forward to do so. Hyunjin huffed, his hand flying up to rub the spot Seungmin had injured. “You do that purely on instinct at this point, don’t you?”

“I can’t believe you’ve liked me all this time!” Seungmin said. “Why did you sleep with Jisung?”

“I didn’t think I had a chance with you.” Hyunjin said. “Like, at all.”

“You’re stupid.” Seungmin said. Hyunjin scrunched up his nose, “Right back at you. I’m _gone_ for you, Seungmin, I can’t believe you didn’t notice. I thought you did and you just… didn’t want me.”

Hyunjin sounded really hurt as he mumbled the last part of his sentence. Seungmin’s shoulders dropped a bit, feeling guilty, “Hyunjin… I’m _so_ into you.”

“Well.” Hyunjin smiled, “Do you want to go out, then? Maybe party a little bit after our gig? I’ll buy you a drink.”

Hyunjin winked at him. Seungmin rolled his eyes. He stepped forward. Hyunjin went for a kiss, while Seungmin went for a hug. They both laughed, and settled for kiss first, hug second. Seungmin said, “Of course I’ll go out with you,” and Hyunjin squeezed him a little tighter.

“But I _really_ need a nap right now.”

“Would you look at that.” Jisung said. He and Felix were reclining on a couch together, post-performance, sweaty and slightly out of breath, still. Chan and Changbin were sitting at the bar, from the exact spot they had been supporting Blurred Opinion. They hadn’t budged, likely because they were filled to the brim with alcohol and settled for making out despite the disapproving looks thrown their way. In the middle of the dance floor, Hyunjin and Seungmin were giggling together -- Seungmin, with flushed cheeks, and Hyunjin, with confidence and guiding hands. They danced together, and snuck kisses when the lights dimmed. Jisung watched all four of them fondly, and then craned his neck up to look at Felix, “All of our friends are happy together.”

“I’m jealous.” Felix said, resting his chin on Jisung’s head. “When will it be our turn?”

“Bro.” Jisung said, and Felix leaned his head back to look at Jisung. A little smile formed on Jisung’s lips as he asked, “Are we about to kiss right now?”

Felix grimaced, “Tell me you’re joking.”

“Of course I’m joking, I’m still obsessed with Minho.” Jisung said. “We need to get you someone new to pine over. Sorry, I don’t think Changbin is going to work for you.”

“I didn’t really have a crush on him, I just get flustered around hot men. You know how it is.” Felix said. Jisung snorted, “I sure do. I saw this guy staring at me during our performance and I was ready to risk it all, jump into the crowd maybe. His _arms_ \-- I’m sure he could’ve caught me no problem.”

“Back to Minho, back to Minho,” Felix said, snapping his fingers in front of Jisung’s face. Jisung swatted at him, but agreed, “Minho… I need to ask him out when we get back to campus. Maybe after finals. I should probably focus on my grades, huh?”

“Nothing sexier than a dude with a high GPA. Maybe if you bring a 3.6 back to Minho he’ll get with you.” Felix said. Jisung nodded, considering, “Not a bad idea. Will you help me study?”

“You’re lucky you have a best friend who’s also a Music major, you know that?” Felix asked, and Jisung nodded, “Don’t know what I’d do without you, baby.”

“You’d be dead without me.”

“Actually, I’d be dead without Seungmin.”

“And who saved you from Seungmin, exactly?” Felix raised an eyebrow. Jisung pursed his lips, “I guess you _are_ the reason I don’t have _two_ black eyes… thank you, my love.”

“You’re insufferable.” Felix muttered. “But you’re welcome. And thank you, too, you know. For putting this band together. For being my friend.”

“I’ll be a better one.” Jisung said, continuing before Felix could argue, “I’ll find you a new person to pine over after finals. Hopefully one that’s smart enough to like you back.”

Felix wanted to go back to Jisung’s first comment, but what he needed, in this state of post-performance high, was to joke around, so Felix went with it. “You’ll officially be the best friend in the _world_ if you find me a partner.”

Jisung presented Felix his pinky finger, “Consider it done.”

Felix wrapped his pinky around Jisung’s, “I’ll hold you to it.”

“Han Jisung never breaks a promise!”

Felix thought about Jisung’s old, old promise from when they were kids: _we’ll always be together!_ He thought about Jisung’s promise from middle school, when the two saw Seungmin get pushed into the lockers: _we’ll be his best friends!_ He thought about Jisung’s semi-recent promise: _I’ll find a way to get along with Hyunjin_. “No, he sure as hell doesn’t.”


End file.
